A cathedral, an abbey, castle ruins and even a mysterious stone circle, all the British staples in just one day.
Back in England again, after a week in Scotland (not long enough, honestly). Day 20 was a grand adventure through Cumbria with British staples like churches, ruins and even a stone circle.
Google Maps The route I took on Day 20 of my 30-day adventure around Great Britain.
Stop 1: Carlisle
The Great Border City is located near the border with Scotland. The city was established by the Romans to serve as fort for the nearby Hadrian’s Wall. It was an important military stronghold, due to its proximity to Scotland, until the two kingdoms were finally unified under one king, James I.
My first stop in Carlisle and the only one I’m going to show you was the city’s cathedral. (I also visited the Tullie House Museum.) Carlisle Cathedral is fairly small, only serving a small population when it was founded in 1133. It may be small for a cathedral, but it sure is amazing on the inside.
Cathedral gatehouse. Carlisle Cathedral started its life as a priory.
Small but impressive.
Ruined abbey buildings can still be found in the churchyard.
That is an impressively large window for such small of a cathedral.
I love this gargoyle/drain pipe near the entrance.
The quire and altar with that giant, wonderful stained-glass window.
Let’s get a better look at that ceiling. Just wow!
Just look at that detail on those carved quire seats.
Carlisle also has a castle, which is now a museum. Lots of stuff to do in the area. Just too much in fact.
Stop 2: Lanercost Priory
Lanercost Priory is located a bit outside of Carlisle. It was founded in 1169 most likely. The Scots had a habit of raiding the priory until it was dissolved by Henry VIII. Most of the church building fell apart, but part of the nave was saved and is still used today.
All that is left of what would have been a very impressive entrance to the priory grounds. They would have been fortified to help protect from the Scots.
The church that was saved from the ruins of the rest of the priory.
It’s fairly small and simple inside.
Heading out into the ruins behind the church. This building is in fairly good shape, probably restored as some point.
Ruins of the church and tombs. Just so English.
They tried to reuse this portion of the church again in the 1700s, but the roof collapsed. They went back to using the other end of the church again.
Turn around and you can see the window of the non-ruined church.
Just a really cool looking tomb.
One of the priory buildings.
I went inside and found this awesome undercroft.
Stop 3: Long Meg and Her Daughters
Long Meg and her Daughters is a giant rock circle which constitutes one of the largest prehistoric sites in Great Britain. However, Stonehenge is so busy hogging attention that even some seasoned travelers have never heard of Meg.
It’s seriously mysterious and now part of a cow pasture.
Today’s circle has 59 stones, only 27 of which still stand but there may have been up to 70 stones; many have disappeared through the centuries. The stones were placed in an oval shape approximately 100 m (328 ft) across. The smaller stones in the circle are Long Meg’s “daughters.”
Long Meg. I can kind of see a face here.
More of the daughters.
For more on Long Meg and her Daughters, check out my post.
Stop 4: Penrith
My last stop was Penrith. I planned to explore more of Penrith, but I didn’t have enough time (Long Meg was a last minute add on to my trip. So worth it). I did make it to the ruins of Penrith Castle, the only attraction still open.
Not much remains of the castle built between 1399 and 1470.
Only this wall really survives today, but it was still pretty cool. Especially, since it was free.
Day 20 was jammed pack full of English (and a bit of Scottish) history. Cumbria is famous for its part of Hadrian’s Wall, but there is much more to see. Carlisle has great museums and a fantastic cathedral. There are ruins scattered all around, like Lanercost Priory and even mysterious stone circles.
Check out Day 21 where I explore Liverpool, England!
